I may be a lackluster millennial when it comes to keeping up with trends and buzzwords, but there’s nothing I love more than books that speak to — loosely defined — the queer millennial experience(s). There’s a lot of discussion, on the bookish internet, about the great millennial novels — what they are, who’s writing them, why we should be reading them. I’m not especially interested in that discourse, but I am very interested in the many queer authors whose work directly addresses all of the messes my peers and I are facing. I crave books that reflect the best and the worst of living through these times. I seek out novels that deal with climate change, exploitative capitalism, economic uncertainty, and internet dating culture. I lose myself in books about queer families, non-normative relationships, and the importance of queer friendship. In all of these stories, I am seeking not just reflections of my own experiences, but ways to understand the experiences of other queer people. These 20 brilliant books are about millennials. That’s how I’m defining a millennial novel, though I’ve stretched the definition of who counts as a millennial a bit on both sides, because generational divides are blurry. I don’t actually care what books we’ll look back on in 50 or 100 years and declare “the voice of a generation.” These are the books that are speaking to me right now. These are the ones that get it right about what it feels like to be a queer millennial. Looking for more great millennial books? Check out this list of the great millennial novels (so far). You might also be interested in 11 Books Every Edgy Millennial Read as a Teen. And if you’re rolling your eyes at the whole idea of millennial novels, give this a read: Classic Novels Rewritten as Millennial Clickbait.
